


Red against my ribcage

by Autisticvampireclub



Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Also this is over 2000 words on just the first chapter I’m so proud, BECAUSE THATS MY THING, Kris has a speech impediment in this fic which is my hc for why they don’t talk very muh, Vampire AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2019-10-28 02:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17779115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Autisticvampireclub/pseuds/Autisticvampireclub
Summary: “Kris, look at me-“I just hiss at her. I’m hunched over on my knees, shaking as tears prick at the corner of my eyes. A raindrop falls from the sky onto my back, but I don’t feel it.Susie lets out a shaky, hollow breath, and runs her claws through her hair. “Look, this is bad, this is really, really bad, but… Jesus Christ, I don’t know…”I’m not listening to her. I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. The only thing my brain was processing at the moment was the buzzing in my ears, not Susie or the rain and definitely not the gross metallic taste in my mouth or the red that stained my fingertips.-Au where Kris gets turned into a vampire, and everything slowly goes to hell.





	1. The creepy wall lab

**Author's Note:**

> HEY HEY FIRST DELTARUNE FIC
> 
> AND ITS A VAMPIRE AU BECAUSE WHY WOULDNT IT BE
> 
> (It’s 1:00 am in the morning right now that’s why the title/summary suck so bad. Hah get it, “suck?” Ehhhhhhh...)

I still had no idea whether this was a reward, or some kind of punishment. Sure, staying after school to help with something in the science lab wasn’t the worst thing I could think of, but it definitely isn’t how I’d want to spend my Friday night. Why did Mr. WD even pick me anyway? Did I radiate some sort of science-y aura? Maybe I was just the first student he saw. Yeah, that’s probably it. 

But really, wouldn’t it have been better to just ask Alphys? She was good with science. The only good science thing I’ve ever done was when I made that volcano that exploded all over the classroom. They were scrubbing green goop off the walls for weeks. Good times.

I knocked on the door of the science lab, while noticing how the lights weren’t on inside. “Come in, come in child!” I heard Mr. WD’s cheery voice call out. 

Stepping in, I squinted in the darkness before Mr. WD’s grinning face came into view. He was hunched over his desk, and had been reading a book despite the lack of light. “Terribly sorry about the lighting conditions, you see, I prefer to work in the dark, so much so I didn’t even bother installing lights,” he explained. “I do have a flashlight here for you though!” 

I winced as he shined the flashlight directly at my face, and shielded my eyes with my arm. “Oops, terribly sorry again!” 

Grabbing the flashlight from him, I shined it around the room. The science lab had been just an unused room before the school had finally gotten funding for proper science equipment. I’d never been in here before, but it honestly looked how I expected. Beakers, test tubes, and other various science equipment lining the shelves, and inspirational slash passive aggressively encouraging posters featuring cats stuck to the walls. Mr. WD had only been here one week, and he’d already made the lab feel like it’d been here since our parents went to school. It was almost admirable. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you from your mother, Kris, and I’ve been eager to finally meet you,” Mr. WD said. “Your a quiet one, or so I’ve been told.” 

I nodded, shifting awkwardly on the spot. Socializing had never been my strong point, especially not with teachers. My mom of course was an exception. 

Mr. WD chuckled softly. “That’s alright, I’m not much of a chatty-cathy either, but if talking makes you feel uncomfortable, I’m perfectly happy taking up most of the conversation.”

He stood up from his desk, and motioned for me to follow him. I did, though I quickly became confused as to why he was leading me towards the wall. Seeming to sense this, he turned to me with a smile. “Now, I didn’t ask you to spare your evening for me just to make pleasant conversation, though I’d hope you wouldn’t mind if I did,” he laughed. “But really, what I wanted is to show you… this.”

Closing his eyes, he held out a hand. A bright light began emitting from the wall. I watched in bewilderment as the wall began to split, spreading apart until it became an entrance way into another room entirely. This new room was also poorly lit, but it at least wasn’t as dark as the science lab. I ducked my head inside, but jumped back in fright when a loud alarm sounded. 

Mr. WD also startled, stumbling back a few steps. “My… My apologies, I forgot my true lab was armed against intruders, I’ll turn it off.” 

Muttering something under his breath, he walked into the room and beeped in some sort of passcode. “There… that’ll do it, come in, have a look around!”

Nervously, I stepped into the dark, and rather large now that I had a better look at it, room. This also looked like a science lab, but a much more sophisticated, and almost creepy one. It looked like something out of a horror movie, actually. A huge tv screen was at the very center of the room, and around it were multiple tubes filled with red liquid that had… something floating around in them. I felt uneasy, even though I had no reason to be, right? 

I glanced over at Mr. WD for some sort of explanation, but he wasn’t there. I frantically scanned the room for him, until I saw him behind the tubes, typing away at a computer. I coughed, trying to get his attention. When he didn’t even look up I got annoyed, and tried banging on the glass of one of the tubes. Still no response. This was getting ridiculous. Screw it.

“HEY!”

Mr. WD let out a yelp, and whipped around. “AH-oh Kris, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there…” 

I resisted the urge to groan and roll my eyes. Just remember what the therapist said Kris. Patient thoughts. 

“I just was checking something quick and I got quite absorbed and… oh… Kris, I know this is incredibly rude, to ask you to come here and then leave like this but… something's come up that I need to take care of, you understand I’m sure?” Mr. WD asked, not really giving me time to answer before hurrying past me. “You can still look around here if you’d like, just please don’t touch anything alright? Thank you so much, and sorry again!” 

And with that, he sped out the door, leaving me in the creepy lab in silence. 

I let out the groan I’d been holding in. I’d hoped I’d at least get to play with some freaky chemicals or whatever, but instead I waited for half and hour just to get ditched in some sort of torture lab. What the hell even is this? What kind of teacher even has a secret lab attached to their regular lab that has creepy test tubes probably filled with clones or alien babies? Mr. WD, I guess. 

Hm, well, weirder things have happened in this school, probably… nah, this is the weirdest. 

I decided I might as well poke around while I can, in case there’s anything interesting or illegal in here. The computer Mr. WD had been using was shut off, and strangely didn’t seem to have a power button. Not that I was planning on snooping on his computer, I wasn’t that invasive. The giant tv screen was the same way, so I guess that just left the tubes. The spooky tubes. 

Surprisingly, the tubes didn’t contain clones nor alien babies. Instead, I could see a small, glowing orb floating around, pulsating like a beating heart. In fact… they looked exactly like hearts. Small, glowing hearts… 

Oh my god. They were souls. 

Human souls, specifically. Not that specifics mattered right now, the only thing that mattered right now was that oh my god Mr. WD probably murdered a bunch of humans and stuck their souls in tubes and was doing experiments on them holy hell-

No, wait, Mr. WD probably could have just gotten the souls from humans who were already dead, or who donated their souls to… soul science. That wasn’t illegal. It was horrifying, but not illegal. Probably raised quite a few ethical questions, but still, not illegal. 

I reach my hand out, and press it against the glass. I shiver as the power of the soul inside ripples over me. Even while trapped behind glass, it’s light can’t be dimmed. Sighing, I step back, and turn to leave. I think I’ve had enough of exploring the creepy wall lab for one day. 

I don’t get far before I hear a noise behind me. It’s a thunk, like the sound a baseball makes when it bangs against a window (note to self, still need to apologize to Mrs. Treethrone for breaking her window). It gets louder, and louder, and I whip around after hesitating out of fear to see what it is. My breathe hitches. The flashlight clatters against the floor. 

It’s the soul, pounding itself against the glass. I stand there, eyes wide and mouth agape, my throat tense and dry. Like a rhythmic heartbeat, the soul bangs against the glass, again, and again, and again, until finally a crack appears in the glass. It gets bigger, spiderwebs out into a huge fracture threatening to shatter. Red liquid begins to leak out, splattering everywhere. Just a moment ago a part of me wished this soul could be free, but now seeing it so close to freedom only filled me with dread. 

One final bang, and the glass shatters with a crash. The red liquid spills out in waves, flooding the lab and lapping at my feet. Sweat drips down my forehead. The soul floats out of its tube, and just… hovers. Like a ghost. It bathes the lab in an eerie red light, as it just hovers there, almost like its contemplating me. Should I run? I have no idea if it plans on attacking me, or if disembodied souls are even capable of attacking. 

I get an answer quickly. 

The soul lunges forward, faster than I can blink. I scream, but it’s cut short as I’m knocked backwards. Heaving, I flail and struggle helplessly, unable to stop the soul from digging into my chest. My cries echo against the lab as I hope that someone, anyone will hear me. Burning, searing pain engulfs me. Can’t breathe, can’t breathe… oh god I can’t breathe… 

I taste blood. Then everything fades to black. 

-

“Kris… Kris!”

“Ughhh…”

The first thing I’m greeted with when I wake up is pain. Pain on my side, pain on my chest, pain in my head… basically just pain everywhere. I try to sit up, but my arms give out beneath me, and my chest makes it pretty clear I’m not going anywhere. 

The next thing I see is the face of my mom, leaning over me with concern. Beside her is Noelle, who has an expression of equal concern, and a mug of hot cocoa in her hands. I smile weakly at them. 

“Kris you scared us to death!” Noelle cries, placing her mug down on the bedside table. “What were you thinking?!”

I shrugged, not really sure what I had been thinking before I ended up where ever I was currently. That seemed to be a recurring pattern in my life. 

Mom placed a gentle hand on my cheek. “Kris honey, do you remember what happened before you passed out?”

I finally started taking in my surroundings, and realized I was in the hospital. Thinking back to what led up to this, I was drawing a blank. Hopefully whatever it was, it was something rad and not something lame like bonking my head against the top of the swing set again. I looked back up at mom and shook my head. 

“Oh dear…” she murmured. “Well, it’s alright now, the doctor said that your going to be fine, you just suffered a… minor concussion from falling… plus whatever happened when you tried to drink those chemicals.”

“Chem… chem… icals…?” I stuttered. 

“Oh! Kris, I brought your notepad, if you wanna write anything out,” Noelle said, pulling it out of her skirt pocket. “And I brought your favourite pencil, the one that smells that peppermints!”

“Th… thank… you…” I try to reach out to grab the pencil, but my arm seizes up in pain and falls back down on the bed. 

“Uh, actually, you probably shouldn’t move at all Kris… I’ll leave these here for you…” She placed the notepad and pencil next to my pillow. “You really can’t remember anything? Mr. WD said you were like, vomiting everywhere!” 

She gestured behind her, to where Mr. WD was sitting on one of the chairs, reading a book. “He found you in the science lab throwing up, ugh, leaves you alone for one second and you’ve already put something your not supposed to in your mouth!” Noelle yelled, stamping her hoof in frustration. 

I just shrugged again. Noelle sighed in defeat. “I guess I can’t get mad at you for something you don’t even remember…” 

“In any case,” mom cut in, “you should be grateful Mr. WD found you when he did, if he hadn’t it could have been too late… I can’t even bare to think about that…” mom looked away, placing her hands over her heart. “Now, as for punishment for such reckless and foolish behaviour…” 

I tensed up. Oh no.

“...I think this traumatic experience is enough of a lesson on its own.”

Whew.

“Besides, it doesn’t seem fair now that you don’t even remember it…” mom sighed. She sat down on my bedside, and stroked my hair softly. Content, and having used up all my energy for now, I closed my eyes, and started to drift off. Faintly I can still hear mom talking, now with Mr. WD. 

“I still can’t thank you enough, you probably saved their life.”

“Ah, it was nothing Ms. Toriel, anyone with a soul would have done it.” 

Their voices get fainter and fainter, until finally I’m asleep.


	2. Get off of me

“My, your up early,” mom said as I walked sluggishly into the living room. It was unusual for me to wake up before eight, but I’d gotten used to waking up earlier in the hospital. Didn’t stop me from being completely exhausted though. Groaning, I slumped down onto the living room chair. “Did you have a good sleep?” 

I shook my head. Even though I’d been deemed well enough to go home, my body still felt like a train wreck. I kept getting a burning sensation in my chest, like I was getting pricked by a bunch of tiny needles. Plus, I’d been having a ton of weird nightmares. Mostly the typical “I’m alone and afraid,” type stuff, but also ones I couldn’t really explain. 

“Hmm… are you sure your going to be okay at school? You can always stay home, I’ll just ask Alphys for any missing assignments.”

“I’m g… good,” I reply, getting up to grab my bag. I don’t need anyone at school starting rumours about me dying, or being in a coma or something like that. It was bad enough when I went to the hospital for hitting my head on the swing set and everyone started saying I had brain damage. Technically I did, but that didn’t give them the right to talk about it behind my back. 

The drive to school is quiet. I stare out the window at the buildings and people, and wave at Noelle when he pass by her walking along the sidewalk. Hometown had never changed for as long as I’d lived here. Same old buildings, same old people. Same old reputation as the town troublemaker, which never really changed either. 

As the car pulled up to the school, I doubled over from a sharp pain in my chest. Mom grabbed my shoulder, her eyes growing wide with concern. “Kris?! Kris honey are you alright-“

“Fine,” I say through gritted teeth, which is a lie. It feels like I’m getting stabbed from the inside, and my eyes are watering. Choking back tears, I slam open the car door and run into school before mom can object. 

I immediately rush into the washroom. My breathing is frantic, and I can barely hold myself up. Gripping onto the side of the sink is the only thing keeping me from collapsing. Thankfully, the stabbing pain cools down as quickly as it began. My arms regain some strength, and I manage to pull myself up. 

Hands shaking, I turn on the tap and splash some water on my face. I looked up at myself in the mirror. A few tears had managed to slip down my cheek, and my eyes were red and puffy. I’m a total mess. Sighing, I lean against the bathroom wall and stare up at the ceiling. This is stupid. I’m supposed to be better. The point of being released from the hospital is that you’ve gotten better enough to y’know, function in society. 

I can hear voices coming from the hallway as everyone starts heading to class. Well. Time to suck it up. 

Stumbling out of the washroom, I slip into the herd of students. After dodging past couples and nearly getting tripped by some lizard dude in a snapback, I duck into class. I’m one of the first ones there, which is such a rarity Alphys does a double take when she sees me. 

“O-Oh, Kris! Good morning!” she sputters. “Nice to see you early for once… u-uh, I mean, not to be rude or anything, your just late a lot… b-but your not now! Which is good so… uh, why don’t you find a seat?”

I nod and head to the back of the classroom, beside where Noelle is sitting. She smiles when she sees me, and slides her chair closer to my desk. “How you feeling?”

I reach into my bag and pull out my notebook and pencil, and flip to a blank page. ‘Not too good,’ I write. ‘Kinda just felt like I was being stabbed a few minutes ago, cried in the bathroom about it.’

Noelles smile faltered. “Stabbed?”

‘Yeah. Super sharp stabby feeling.’

“That’s not good, you should be at home, getting rest when your seriously ill is important!” Noelle insists. 

I scoff. ‘I’m not seriously ill. It’s just leftover chemical gunk. Besides, this is because I was being stupid, so I shouldn’t complain about it.’

“Well… yes, you were being stupid, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of yourself!” 

‘Too late. Unless mom comes in here to drag me home or I literally die, I’m staying in this classroom just to be stubborn.’

Noelle huffs. “Fine, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Everyone else files into class shortly after I arrive, and soon all the desks are filled except for Susie’s, who often times doesn’t even show up to class, so pretty much everyone was here. Alphys struggled to quiet everyone down so she could start the lesson, but eventually just gave up and wrote ‘please be quiet’ on the board in hopes someone would notice. Someone did notice, but unfortunately it was Berdly, who managed to make even shushing sound nasally and annoying. 

“A-Ahem, thank you B-Berdly,” Alphys coughed. “N-Now, as we were talking about on Friday, we are going to be b-beginning a new unit, on composit-“

The door opened with a loud thud, startling Alphys mid speech. The room immediately went dead silent. 

Susie. 

“H-Hello… S-Susie… g-good morning…” Alphys said, barely above a whisper.

Susie barely glanced over at her. “Hey.”

Alphys gulped. “U-Ummm… there’s a-a seat in the b-back… next to K-Kris…” 

Wait. What. My head snapped over to the other desk beside me, which I now saw was indeed empty. Crud. Glancing back over at Susie, I shrunk in my seat. Even though her eyes were covered, I could tell she was glaring at me. Her whole personality seemed like it was just glaring. She was basically a glare in physical form. 

I ran a hand through my hair nervously as Susie approached the back. She sat down in her seat, casting me another threatening look before turning to the front. Man, this was certainly going to be an experience… 

“A-As I was s-saying,” Alphys continued, “new unit o-on composition, starting today. Now, first things first, I want you to all get into partners-“ 

The classroom erupted into cheers as everyone turned to partner with their friends. 

“-which I will be c-choosing!!”

A chorus of groans followed after. Alphys cleared her throat, and picked up a piece of chalk to write down the partners. “Now, Jockington can be with Catti-“

“All right!” cheered Jockington, curling himself into a pretzel around an uninterested Catti.

“Monster kid can be with Snowy-“

“We’ll make one ‘cool’ team, haha!” laughed Snowy, slinging a wing around Monster kids shoulder. “Whatever dude,” Monster kid sighed, and went back to doodling on their math homework. 

“Noelle can be with Berdly, Temmie can be with… u-uh… egg I-I guess…?” 

“YAY! Tem an eg will make… GREAT TEM!” Temmie yelled, waving her egg friend in the air. 

“Mhm… and Kris… y-you can be with S-Susie!”

A choking sound escaped my throat. Okay, sitting by Susie was terrifying enough, but partnering up with her?! That was a complete nightmare. Monster kid gave me a sympathetic look as Susie scooted towards me, until she was right next to me. Right next to me, as in really close. Super close. Way too close. Like, the tip of her nose was way too close to mine close. 

I tried to nonchalantly wipe the beads of sweat off my forehead, but Susie definitely noticed. Her glare level was taken up to at least an eleven. We sat there in crushing silence as we waited for Alphys to hand us the assignment. I focused on not looking directly at her, but also not looking like I was ignoring her. It was as excruciating as it sounded. 

“H-Here you go you two,” Alphys said, handing me the worksheet. I glanced it over. Huh, alright, not too hard. Just had to write a short essay on what could improve the school environment. I could think of several things off the top of my head. Like, unbanning heelies. Or unbanning silly string. Or unbanning me from free ham sandwich day, I bet Susie would like that one too. 

Susie at the moment was blankly staring out the window, which while better than glaring, was not very helpful. Not that I was gonna ask her for help. I was already having enough health problems, didn’t need anymore. She probably just wants me to do all the work anyway. 

And so I spent the rest of class time diligently working on my ‘please unban the things I got banned which includes heelies, silly string, bath bombs and ketchup’ essay, while Susie sat there and… half watched, half stared off into space. It turned out more uneventful than I thought, thank god for that I guess. 

The bell rang, sweet music to my ears. A whole class session in close quarters with Susie, and not a single bone broken! That gave me a nice confidence boost. I packed up my bag to go, and was almost out the door when- 

“Hey. You.”

I flinched. My legs went numb. Susie had stood up, and was now towering right above me. I worked up the nerve to look up at her, and then wished I could work up the nerve to look down. One of her piercing yellow eyes was now visible behind her bangs. It cut through me like a piece of shattered glass. “What the hell is your problem with me, huh?” Susie demanded. 

“Uh… uh…”

“You haven’t talked once since I sat down next to you, what the hell is up with that, answer me!!” 

“I… I…” Susie was backing me up against the wall, and everyone was watching. My face was twisted in a silent cry for help, but nobody had enough of a death wish to try and provoke Susie, god forbid actually fight her off. Noelle, the only person who I know would come to my aid had already gone off to her next class. I was all alone.

Again.

This felt so familiar. As if I had experienced this type of fear not too long ago. It was the kind of fear from my nightmares, the freezing terror of a threat coming towards me, and me being unable to run away. 

“Do you think I’m a freak, is that you what think?!” Susie screamed at me, grabbing my shirt and shoving me against the wall. “Well I’ve got news for you pal, the only freak in this school is you.”

I cried out, from fear, and also because the sharp stabbing pain had returned, full force. As if this situation couldn’t get anymore god awful. 

“Shut up,” Susie growled. “You think your better than everyone else just because you don’t talk, but really, you just don’t know how to shut up!!” 

She punched me in the face, which is when the flood gates opened up. I wailed, tears streaming down my face. I couldn’t think properly from all the pain, from my chest, from my face, it was all a cloud over my mind. Everything that happened from here was a blur. 

“Awww, is baby crying? Do you want your mommy?” Susie sneered, getting especially close to my face again. “Don’t worry little baby, you won’t be able to cry anymore…” her mouth gaped open, exposing rows of sharp yellow teeth, “...after I RIP off your FACE.”

Susie was about to close her jaw around me, but stopped when she heard my quivering voice. “G… get… get… off… m… me…” 

She threw back her head and laughed, then glared at me with a toothy grin. “Make me, freak.”

I had no idea what came over me next, and I don’t think I ever will. Maybe it was an adrenaline boost, I have no clue. But in that moment, the burning pain spreading like a raging fire in my chest coursed through me like blood, and instead of weakening me, it gave me power. A strength unlike any I’d ever possessed. It hurt like hell, but it also made me feel like I could suplex a huge boulder. For fun. 

I raised my head to eye level with Susie, and glared back at her, with newfound intensity. “I… said… get… off… ME!!”

I don’t remember how hard I intended to shove her, but it can’t be how hard I actually did. I watched the pure shock register in her eyes as she was thrown across the room, and slammed into the wall. Her body crumpled to the floor, and she gasped for breath. The people who had stayed to watch the fight all stared at me with a mix of awe and horror. 

Breathing heavily, I dropped to my knees. The burst of strength I had felt faded away, until only a ghost of the sensation was left inside me. Susie hoisted herself up on her elbows, and leaned against the wall. We both stayed absolutely still, no one in the room daring to move. 

-

“Change of plans class, g-guess what I just found in the school li… bra… by…” the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie manga volume Alphys had been holding dropped to the floor, and her mouth fell open in shock. She surveyed the scene, eyes darting from Kris to Susie, Kris to Susie, back and forth over and over again. “W-What… w-what H-HAPPENED?!”

She dashed over to me first, seeing as I was the most beat up looking one. “K-Kris!!” she yelled, frantically checking my injury’s over, “w-what on earth h-happened?!” 

I didn’t answer. This only freaked Alphys out more. “Kris, p-please say something, oh my god oh my god your mom’s g-gonna k-kill me…” 

“A… Alph… ys…” 

“K-Kris…?”

“Alph… ys…” 

Alphys sighed with relief. “Yes, i-it’s me, Alphys, I’m here… oh!”

Her eyes widened in surprise, not expecting the sudden hug from me. I clutched tightly to her jacket, hanging on like my life depended on it. “Alphys… p… please… stay…”

“Oh… o-of course Kris…” she wrapped her arms around me, and hugged me back. “I won’t g-go anywhere, promise.”

“Mmm… thank… you…”


	3. The darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOP IM BACK
> 
> ITS BEEN LIKE SIX MONTHS BUT IM BACK
> 
> also I changed the title and summary so now it doesn’t suck

The rest of the afternoon went by rather calmly for the most part. Alphys rushed me to the nurses office, and I was given some ice and a bandaid. I had a black eye from where Susie had slugged me, but oddly it barely hurt at all. The pain in my chest had also eased. Whatever had happened when I shoved Susie must have been like an instant painkiller. Huh, if this is what happens when you get punched in the face, I should try getting punched in the face more often. 

Mom hadn’t completely believed me when I said the pain was all gone. I wasn’t getting sent back to the hospital, but she did insist I go home. My head was still spinning, so I didn’t really bother arguing with her. 

We passed by Susie on the way out. She was leaning against the bench outside the principal's office, and from the look she gave me I imagined she’d gotten over her initial shock. If I didn’t die from chest pain apparently caused by toxic chemicals, I was already dead for attacking Susie. 

Mom sensed my unease, and squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry about her Kris, she will be punished severely for her actions. I don’t doubt after three incidents this month, this is the last straw,” mom told me as we walked out the double doors. 

“Expelled…?”

“Yes, most likely.” 

That meant I was fine as long as Susie didn’t know where I lived. Guess I could give up my dreams of walking to school on my own. Though, as I noticed as we were driving home, we don’t live very far from school. Susie could follow the car home and just hide out in the bushes until I was asleep, but mom would probably beat her up with a spatula if she tried to break in. Mom, brave wielder of the holy spatula, defender of children and vanquisher of bullies. Forget the police force, mom was the only one we needed to stop break ins. 

The minute we walked inside the house I was already flopped over on the couch. I grabbed the remote and switched the TV on to the nature channel, where a documentary about parasitic snails was on. Hmm… wonder how parasitic snails would taste in a pie. 

“How are you feeling now Kris?” mom asked as she hung her jacket up. “Does your face hurt?”

I shook my head. The only thing I still felt was dazed after what happened, and even that had almost worn off by now. 

Mom seemed bewildered about this. “Really, even though your face is so black and blue… ah, well you’ve always had strong pain tolerance. Mr. WD wanted to know how you were doing, he just left town for the week yesterday, but he sounded so worried over the phone. I’ll tell him your doing better… surprising as it is.”

-

It felt like I had closed my eyes for a moment before I opened them to see a pitch black ceiling. Yawning, I sat up straight on the couch. The living room was completely dark, and the TV was switched off. I had a blanket draped around me. I must have been more tired than I thought. 

Getting up, I wandered into the kitchen. I could smell the sweet scent of moms baking, and sure enough a delicious pie was sitting on top of the oven. I had almost grabbed half the pie for myself before I heard mom's footsteps thumping down the stairs. 

“Kris? You better leave some of that pie for me…”

Groaning, I sliced out a smaller piece. I sat down at the dinner table, and had already finished all my pie by the time mom had grabbed a slice of her own. “My, you were hungry!” she laughed. 

Hearing a flick, I was blinded by a sudden flash of light. I hissed, and slapped my hands over my eyes. “Ugh… bright…”

“Oh! Sorry honey,” mom flicked the light switch back off, and I sighed with relief. It was weird, the kitchen lights had never bothered me before. It was probably just because I was tired, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. 

Mom wrapped up the pie, and put it in the fridge. “I know you just woke up, but it’s about…” she cast a glance at the clock above the stove, “...eight pm, so if you want, you can watch tv for a bit more after you help put away the dishes.”

“Eight?” I asked, taken aback. Geez, I was really tired.

“I didn’t want to wake you, you seemed so peaceful, but I don’t expect you to go to bed if your not tired. You can stay up as long as you like.”

Usually I’d be pumped to stay up late, but despite my ridiculously long nap I was still tired. Yawning, I tossed my plate into the sink. After washing and drying all the dishes, I said goodnight and went upstairs to bed. 

I pulled the covers up over my head. Listening to the soft hum of the radiator, I was lulled to sleep. 

-

Waking up the next morning was torturous. The curtains had been left open, and sunlight was shining directly at my face. I let out a pained noise and rolled away from the window. My eyes were scrunched shut, sensitive after waking up, or at least that’s what I hoped it was. I’d heard once that not being able to stand light was a symptom of meningitis, and I really did not want meningitis. Then again, I also did not have the plethora of other symptoms related to meningitis. I’m thinking it’s not meningitis. 

The sun does still hurt like hell though. Forcing myself to get up, I stumble over to the curtains and pull them shut. Sighing, I fell back onto the bed. Being sick is the worst. Was I even sick? Who knows, certainly not my super broken body. 

I hear a buzz from my bedside table. My phone is vibrating rapidly, and I pick it up to see at least fifteen text messages from Noelle. 

Tuesday 10:45 AM

Noelle:  
‘I just found out what happened yesterday oh my god!!’

Noelle:   
‘I was wondering where you were after school, are you okay??!!’

Noelle:   
‘Kris please answer!!’

It was similar messages to this as I scrolled down. Though I really wanted to just go back to bed, I didn’t want Noelle to worry all day. ‘Hey, sorry just woke up, im doing okay’, I texted back. 

Noelle:  
‘Oh good…’

Noelle:  
‘First you end up in the hospital and then you get in a fight Kris what is wrong with you.’

Kris:   
‘Is everybody talking about it. Am I famous.’

Noelle:  
‘It pains me to say this, but yeah you are…’

Kris:  
‘Perfect’

Kris:   
‘All according to plan’ 

Noelle:   
‘Kris this is serious!!’

Kris:   
‘Seriously all according to plan’

Noelle:  
‘Ugh…’

Noelle:  
‘Has your chest hurt anymore since yesterday morning?’

Kris:  
‘Yeah, it started hurting when Susie punched me, but its all good’

Noelle:   
‘No it’s not!!!’

Noelle:   
‘At least your staying home like your supposed to…’ 

Noelle:   
‘Have you been on any painkillers?’

Kris:  
‘Getting punched in the face was a painkiller, apparently’

Noelle:   
‘What????’

Kris:  
‘Yeah it was sick, when I got punched and my chest was hurting suddenly I went all beast mode and thats how I threw Susie against the wall’

Kris:   
‘And now I can never go back to school or else shell kill me’

Noelle:  
‘Kris…’

Kris:   
‘Sorry if this ruins your crush on her’

Noelle:  
‘KRIS.’

Kris:  
‘Im sure shes a nice person when shes not pinning people against the wall’

Noelle:   
‘KRIS OH MY GOD.’

Kris:  
‘Unless your into that’

Noelle:   
‘STOP!!’

Kris:  
‘Haha’

Noelle:   
‘YOUR CHEST. WE WERE TALKING ABOUT YOUR CHEST.’

Kris:  
‘We can talk about Susies chest if you like’

Noelle:  
‘SHUT!! UP!!’

Kris:  
‘But yeah it hasnt hurt since then, I have been hella tired tho and im still exhausted after sleeping all night and taking huge nap before that’

Noelle:   
‘Oh, do you wanna go back to sleep?’

Kris:  
‘Nah im awake now’

Kris:   
‘Also ive been really sensitive to light and stuff, like the sun really hurts to look at’

Kris:   
‘I dont think its meningitis’

Noelle:  
‘Kris, you’d know if it was meningitis.’

Kris:  
‘Mmmm would I tho?’

Noelle:  
‘Are you vomiting?’

Kris:  
‘No’

Noelle:   
‘Do you have a severe headache, a rash, or pale or mottled skin?’

Kris:   
‘Are you reading off web md?’

Noelle:  
‘...maybe.’

Noelle:  
‘Point is it’s unlikely you have meningitis.’

Kris:   
‘Well thats good’

I set my phone down, and walked downstairs. The whole house was dark. There was a note stuck to the fridge, reading ‘I’ve gone to work, if your hungry there’s some leftover pie, and whatever you want from the fridge. Love mom.’ I smiled at the heart drawn at the end. 

I flicked on the light switch, but a sharp pain almost immediately flared up. I fell to my knees, clutching my head. Why did the light hurt so much? Legs shaking, I managed to stand up and switch the light back off. 

Yeesh. I hope this isn’t permanent. The hospital said any side effects wouldn’t be, but that’s also what they said when I fell off the swings, so… 

Despite it being dark, I have no trouble getting that leftover slice of pie. I sit down at the table, and eat it in silence. 

It was weird being home alone. Mom was always home when I was home, and before if she wasn’t dad was, and if he wasn’t then Asriel was. 

I missed dad. I sorta understand why he moved out of town, but it still hurts to think he was fine with just leaving me behind. He always said I was important to him, but obviously that couldn’t have been true. When he and mom first split up, I didn’t get it. Now I do. I love him, but he’s a pain. And his hugs are too tight. 

The pie is cold, but that doesn’t bother me. Cold pie is better than warm pie, in my opinion. As I’m shoveling forkfuls into my mouth, I cry out in pain. 

My fork clatters against the ground. There’s a numbing pain in my teeth, almost like the kind you feel when you eat ice cream too fast. My hand flies to my mouth, and I double over, almost falling off my chair. I didn’t think the pie was that cold. 

The pain was coming from around my canines, and it was only getting worse by the minute. I got up, and stumbled into the bathroom. 

I examine my teeth in the mirror, and almost fall over in shock. My canine teeth were long and pointy, like fangs. They WERE fangs. I had fangs. Oh my god, I had fangs. 

AWESOME. 

Wait, everything made sense now. Super strength, aversion to light, and now fangs, I totally had somehow been turned into a vampire. Well, like a human story type vampire, not a real-life monster type vampire. Those were way different.

STILL TOTALLY AWESOME. 

I ran my tongue over my fangs in awe, wondering how the hell this happened, but being super pumped that it did. Did the chemicals do this? Who knows, who cares, I had fangs! And super strength! Being allergic to sunlight kinda sucked, but I’d dwell on that later. 

I immediately texted Noelle. 

Kris:   
‘NOELLE NOELLE HOLY FUCK’

Noelle:  
‘WHAT’

Noelle:   
‘WHAT DID YOU DO’

Kris:  
‘NOTHING!’

Kris:  
‘I think…’

Noelle:  
‘THATS NOT A GOOD SIGN’

Kris:  
‘Just let me tell you first!!’

Kris:   
‘Actually come over to my house after school so I can show you itll be way better!!’

Noelle:  
‘THATS AN EVEN W O R S T SIGN’

Kris:  
‘WHATEVER JUST COME OVER OKAY’

Noelle:  
‘FINE’

-

I got bored of waiting for school to end, so I decided to just grab an umbrella and hoodie and go walk to meet Noelle. I got a few weird looks because it wasn’t raining and I was also wearing pyjama pants with flip flops, but I was too pumped to show off my new fangs to Noelle to care. 

But of course, because obviously I must have the worst luck in the world, as I passed by the school gates a purple hand grabbed me by the shoulder. 

“Hey.”

A shiver ran down my spine. Great. This is how I die. I scrunch my eyes shut, awaiting any blow Susie was going to give me, but to my surprise she let go of my shoulder and sighed. 

“Alright listen,” she started, “as much as I wanna beat you into the dirt right now I’ve learned my lesson to not fuck with you, so like, good job.” 

I blinked. “Uh… th-“

“But anyways, I need your help with something.”

Before I could even protest she dragged me by the arm across the courtyard and into the school. The bell had just rung, and the halls were flooded with students. Most of them got out of the way when they saw Susie coming. 

We stopped in front of a storage closet.

“You’ve been in here before, right?” she asked. 

I nodded tentatively, vaguely remembering hiding in the closet once when I didn’t want to get my flu shot. 

She grinned. “Great, I need you to show me where they keep the chalk.”

Chalk? Oh yeah, that’s right. Susie eats chalk. Or at least that was the rumour, which I guess isn’t a rumour anymore. 

She jiggled the doorknob. “Locked… eh, fuck it, I’m expelled anyway…” 

She doesn’t even give me a warning before she slammed herself against the door, pulling it halfway off its hinges. With a huff she pushes it the rest of the way and walks into the dark room. She glances back at me. “Consider this getting even alright? You help me with this I’ll never even look at you again, and you can go on with your dumb life, deal?”

I take a shaky breath as I consider my options. On one hand, I’m going to be stuck in a closet with someone who probably would drown me in the lake if she had the chance. But on the other hand I was also a vampire with super strength and probably a whole lotta other cool powers, plus I had an umbrella which I bet I could use as a weapon if it came down to it. 

“A… alright…” 

“Great, now hurry up, in case you don’t remember you got me expelled, so if anyone sees me here I’m in big trouble.”

The closet was pitch black, with the only thing I could see being dusty old pages that littered the floor. I gulped, visibly unnerved as we crept into the room. 

“What’s wrong Kris, scared?” Susie taunted, “relax, it’s just a closet, let’s see if we can find a light switch.”

We walked further in, and I noted how this closet seemed to be much bigger than from when I was six. Almost like it stretched on forever. 

“That’s weird, I can’t find a switch…” Susie said, “guess it’s further in…” 

I glanced around nervously as we somehow managed to walk even further into the closet, and the darkness seemed to close in around us. 

“Uhh… kinda big for a closet huh… you think we’d have reached the end by now…?”

I nodded in agreement as I tried to keep myself from stumbling in the darkness. You’d think being a vampire would give me some sort of dark vision powers, but no dice. 

Eventually, Susie stopped and turned to look at me. “Hey Kris… I think this closets, uh… broken… there’s no walls…” she said. 

“Huh?” I reached out and tried to feel the walls, but found they were indeed not there. 

Susie groaned, and folded her arms. “Damn, was really looking forward to that chalk… whatever, you can get even with me some other way, cmon, let’s split.” 

I didn’t have to be told twice. I hurried back towards the door, but jumped in alarm when it slammed itself shut. 

“Wh-What the…?” Susie yelped. She banged on the door. “Hey, this isn’t funny!”

My heart started racing as the worst possible scenario of being stuck in a closet with my worst enemy came true. As Susie continued to yell and bang on the door, I pulled out my cellphone to call mom. 

Suddenly, the old papers beneath our feet began to shake. I looked down in alarm, and saw it wasn’t just the papers, but the floor itself that was shaking. 

“The floor, it’s…!”

The papers fluttered away as the floor underneath us gave out, and I screamed as we were sent tumbling into the darkness below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WhooooOOOAOAOOAoooOoo SpOoKy

**Author's Note:**

> Also I realized while writing this that I wrote Kris with super Mae from night in the woods vibes? I mean it does kinda fit,,,,,,


End file.
